Raegan's Restoration

I'm amazed at the progress Raegan has made.  She's 3 years old, but when she came to us a few months ago, she was in bad shape... Not just physically (another serious heart defect), but emotionally as well.  She wouldn't let us touch her.  She would sit by herself, and her only interaction with others came in the form of spitting, hitting, and trying to bite.

Now she's coming alive.

Her heart is corrected and she's on the road to an even fuller recovery. She's learning sign language that's helping her communicate her needs now.  (It's not that she can't speak -- she just doesn't... one of the many potential consequences of institutional living.)  And she's making enormous progress... in one of the pictures above she's making the symbol for "water."  (Though I think she thinks she's making the ubiquitous peace sign that appears in almost all Chinese photographs.)  We know she'll continue making progress, and probably will be speaking before long...these pics remind me of that hope.

When she came, she wouldn't let us touch her.  A few weeks ago, she was terrified if you tried to get her on your back.  Now she's loving it.

It's a picture of a restoration in process.